


You Only Turn Forty-Six Once

by LexLemon



Series: I’ll Build a World Around You [11]
Category: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Genre: Cliff Booth has a heart, Cliff always wants Rick to feel special, Fluff, Gen, Jay’s trying his best, Little kids acting like little kids, Me? Writing a fic where there are other characters besides Rick Cliff Brandy and Tracy?, Some of my favorite 70s jams are referenced in this, Surprise Party, To quote my roommate “Cliff is WHIPPED for Rick”, and vice versa, hair styling, it’s more likely than you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-07
Updated: 2020-09-07
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:07:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26330857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LexLemon/pseuds/LexLemon
Summary: While Jay is busy styling their daughter’s hair at home, Cliff tries to get Rick to his surprise birthday party without blowing his cover.{Sort-of sequel to Like a Kid in a Bakery}
Relationships: Cliff Booth/Rick Dalton, Jay Sebring & Original Female Character(s)
Series: I’ll Build a World Around You [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1852639
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7





	You Only Turn Forty-Six Once

**Author's Note:**

> Like it says in the summary, this takes place after my other fic, Like a Kid in a Bakery. While you don’t necessarily have to read it before this one, it might be helpful for certain details.

“ _Too many broken hearts_

_Have fallen down the river._

_Too many lonely souls_

_Have drifted out to sea.”_

Cliff Booth heard the sounds of the 10cc song playing from the radio as he stepped out the front door. It would probably still be playing once he got in the car, but he always liked having music playing in his ears no matter where he was. It made life more exciting to him.

As Cliff stepped over the threshold, he stopped when he felt something tackle him from behind. A low grunt left his mouth as he staggered back, but it quickly turned into a laugh once he realized that the force was nothing more than a five-year-old girl.

"Bye, Pop!" Cliff's daughter, Tracy Dalton, said with her arms wrapped around him.

Cliff struggled to turn around so he could get a good look at her smiling face behind him. "Bye, Tracy. You're going to be good for Mr. Jay?"

"Uh huh."

"She'll be fine, Cliff," Jay Sebring said as he stood behind Tracy. "I'll have her looking perfect when Rick gets here."

"Thanks again for watching her, Jay," Cliff said, prying himself free from Tracy's grip.

Jay made an absent wave. "Don't mention it. I'm glad I can help in some way."

Cliff felt a smile growing on his face as he ran his hand through his blond hair. "God, he's going to be so surprised."

"It's going to be great."

"Yeah. Alright, I got to go." Cliff began making his way down the front steps, and he turned back for a moment to point at Tracy. "Be good, Tracy."

"Okay, Pop!"

Tracy waved as fast as she could as she watched her father climb into his car. Once the engine revved around Cielo Drive, Jay placed his hand on Tracy's shoulder and led her inside.

"Alright, Tracy. Let's get you ready for your dad's party."

"Yay!"

Tracy took off in a sprint towards her bedroom, making Jay laugh as he tried to catch up to her. When he reached the end of the hall, he turned into her room and found her sitting on the pink ottoman before her vanity. She held her head up high and gave him a grin as she clasped onto her cross-legged ankles.

"I'm ready!" she yelled. "I want to look really pretty!"

"Tracy, you _are_ pretty," Jay said as he stepped inside. "We just have to do something with your hair."

Once he stood behind her, Jay bent down to her level and stared at their reflections. "Now what do you think about putting your hair in a nice braid?"

Tracy let out a large gasp, her mouth forming into a large O. "Yeah!"

"Yeah? You like that?"

"Yeah, I want a braid. Daddy always says that, that it's pretty when it's in a braid."

"Well, if your dad likes a braid, then we'll give him a braid for his party."

"Yay!"

Jay laughed to himself as he picked up a brush and began running it through Tracy's long brown waves. "You excited for the party, Tracy?" he asked.

"Yeah! It's a surprise."

"It is a surprise, yeah. Do you think he knows it's a surprise?"

"Uh uh."

Jay cringed when Tracy began shaking her head. "Oh, uh, Tracy, try not to move your head when I do your hair, okay? I don't want it to get messy."

"Oh. Sorry, Mr. Jay."

"That's okay, sweetie."

As she felt the hairbrush move through her hair, Tracy continued, "I've been good. I didn't talk about the party to Daddy at all."

"That's good!"

"Yeah. Pop said it wouldn't be a surprise if I did, so it's secret."

"That's right. You can't talk about surprises or else they're not surprises anymore."

"And this is a surprise party."

"Right."

There was a lull for a moment as Jay tried to find a sturdy hair tie for Tracy. While he got himself ready, Tracy said, "Pop and I got the cake today."

"You did?"

"Yeah. It's pretty."

"What kind is it?"

Tracy dragged out each word she said as she tried to remember what it looked like. "It's orange and white and it has leaves on it."

"Oh, it's white? So it's a vanilla cake?"

"Uh huh. It's not chocolate. But I like chocolate."

"Yeah, chocolate's good. But vanilla's good too."

"Yeah."

Tracy felt a tug on her head as Jay began braiding her hair together. While he did, a thought popped into her head.

"Where's Paul?"

"He's at home with his nanny," Jay said, trying to remember the schedule of Sharon Tate's son. "He's coming later, though."

Tracy let out a small gasp and made a small bounce in her seat. "Paul's coming?"

"Yup, he'll be here. So you'll have someone to play with later."

"Is Miss Sharon bringing him?"

"No, his nanny is. Miss Sharon's here, remember? She's putting up balloons in the backyard."

Tracy laughed to herself and leaned forward. "Oh yeah." When she leaned back, she added, "Paul and I can play cowboys again."

"Yeah, if you want to."

Tracy made another gasp and banged her hands on the seat. "Mr. Jay, Mr. Jay, maybe Brandy can wear my cowgirl hat for the party! That could be a surprise for Daddy!"

Jay felt his eyes widen but couldn't stop his smile from forming at her excitement. "That would definitely be a surprise, Tracy. But won't Brandy be insi-"

"I want to put it on her now!"

Just as Jay was about to fasten the braid in with a hair tie, Tracy jumped out of her seat and moved to a pink trunk against the wall.

"Wait, Tracy."

Tracy didn't listen to him, instead rifling through her dress-up trunk until she pulled out a pink cowgirl hat. She giggled at the top of her lungs as she ran through the house, her hair untangling and flying apart behind her.

"Brandy! Where are you?" her voice called from outside.

Jay sagged his shoulders and let out a sigh. If Tracy already had that much energy in her before the party even started, he had no idea what the rest of the night would bring.

Keeping his hairbrush in hand, Jay ran out of the room and chased after her. "Tracy, wait! I'm not done with your hair yet!"

~

” _Don't be suspicious._

_Now don't be suspicious._

_Babe, you know you are a friend of mine.”_

Steve Miller seemed to know exactly what Cliff was thinking as he waited outside the 20th Century Fox studio. His fingers drummed against the steering wheel of the car, and he tucked in his lips with a deep breath.

Cliff was always good at surprising Rick. He always had something up his sleeve that his boyfriend couldn't suspect. And Rick always had the biggest smile on his face afterwards, so he knew that he liked surprises. But for some reason, this one felt different.

Maybe it was due to the fact that Cliff had never thrown him a surprise party before. He didn't think Rick ever had one either, so he hoped he liked it. But what if somebody had slipped up along the way? What if Rick had figured it out and was hiding it from him all along? That would be a double surprise that Cliff wasn't sure he could handle today. He was already so stressed out from planning the party. All he wanted was for the evening to go off right.

Cliff was broken out of his thoughts by the car door opening beside him, the sound making him jump in his seat. He looked over to see Rick Dalton slide into the passenger seat and let out a sigh.

"Busy day today," he said to Cliff. His face seemed shiny from sweat, and his blue eyes softened up in the fading daylight, showing Cliff nothing but relief at the sight of his face.

"Yeah, I bet." Cliff wrapped his arm around him and pulled him in for a quick kiss. "But now, we can celebrate the birthday boy all night long."

"That we can, that we can."

With his foot on the gas, Cliff pulled off the side of the road and drove through Los Angeles, the neon signs beginning to flicker on around them. As they made their way through the city, Cliff asked, "How was shooting?"

"Fine, actually. Nothin' m-m-major to report. But you know, those _M*A*S*H_ fellas...They're a-a real great group of guys t-t-to work with."

"Is that right?"

"Oh yeah. They're a real nice group. If I was w-w-workin' with 'em full time, I-I-I wouldn't mind it at all."

"Good. That's good. Did they do anything special for you today?"

Rick made a goofy smile and waved his hand at him, turning to look out the window. "Nah. I didn't tell 'em."

Cliff couldn't hide the shock in his tone as he replied, "What? Why not?"

"They ain't goin' to give a shit, Cliff! It's just a-a-a-another day for 'em."

"But you just said they're a nice group. They might have done something if you told them. Shit, Rick, you only turn forty-six once."

Rick let out a sigh. "Yeah, don't remind me. Say, wh-wh-where are we goin' tonight?"

"Casa Vega."

Rick turned to face him with wide eyes. "You got a reservation there th-th-this close to the holiday?"

"Rick, it's a Wednesday. Their schedule's wide open."

Rick hummed to himself with a shrug. Cliff had a point there.

After a short lull, he turned again and asked, "Tracy don't mind, right?"

"Nah, she's fine. I told her we'd have cake when we got back. She's with Jay now too, so they'll be busy all night."

"That's good. I-I don't want her thinkin' she's missin' out o-on all the fun."

Cliff made a silent sigh as they began to enter the suburbs. It was perfect. Rick didn't suspect a thing.

It wasn't long before they turned onto Cielo Drive and pulled into the driveway, the sky beginning to grow dark above them. Cliff was a little relieved to step out of the car and hear silence all around the area. Good on Sharon for making sure everyone did their part in keeping it a surprise.

Cliff saw Rick heading towards the house and decided to enact his part of the plan. "Hey, I think I see Jay and Tracy in the yard," he said, tilting his head towards the side of the house. "You want to say hi to them quick?"

"Oh, sure."

Rick began to head towards the backyard with Cliff close on his tail, his smile stretching wider across his face by the second. Once they were completely around, a loud cry of "SURPRISE!" echoed throughout the yard.

Rick staggered back and placed his hand on his chest, looking around with wide eyes at how many familiar faces were before him. Tracy, her hair now tied back in a braid, ran over to him in a giggle and threw her arms around him.

"Surprise, Daddy! Surprise!" she said.

Rick found himself taking several breaths as he looked down at Tracy then up at the crowd. "Wh...What the hell is all this?" he asked Cliff's smirking face.

"Your birthday party! Like I said, you only turn forty-six once."

Rick didn't know why, but he suddenly found himself tearing up. "You did all this for me?"

"'Course I did. You're Rick Dalton. You deserve it."

"Happy birthday, Daddy!" Tracy said, still hugging him from below.

Rick smiled down at her and hugged her back. "Thank you, darlin'. Don't you look pretty tonight?"

Cliff turned to the partygoers and cupped his hands around his mouth to speak. "Alright, guys! We did it! We got him!"

A cheer sounded throughout the yard, as several people held their cups up in the air.

"Now we can get this party started!"

Music then played around the area, signaling the true beginning of the evening.

It took Rick a few moments to join everyone, as he couldn't help but gawk in awe at the well-kept secret before him. It made him feel all the more grateful to have Cliff in his life, someone who would go out of their way to make something as minuscule as a forty-sixth birthday become something truly special.

If there was one thing Rick knew in that moment, it was that this would be one birthday he'd never forget.

**Author's Note:**

> Songs referenced:
> 
> “The Things We Do for Love”-10cc: https://youtu.be/cgptvsHHYK4
> 
> “Rock’n Me”-Steve Miller Band: https://youtu.be/j-IkE5TtO2U


End file.
